• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Lice advice!

Status
Not open for further replies.
Sharon.Mackay

Sharon.Mackay

Teenage Guinea Pig
Joined
Aug 4, 2010
Messages
770
Reaction score
2
Points
310
Location
North of England
I took my little piggy Jem to the vets yest as he had sore skin on his back. She informed me it was a skin infection and he had lice :x:x:x:x She gave me antibiotics for him, and enough stuff to treat all my boys. We disinfected the cages, washed the blankets on 90 and thoroughly cleaned toys etc.
Now they are treated and de-liced i am wondering what happens about playtime? They come out into the guinea pig room and i cant do anything about the carpet. They have a large playmat that protects most of the carpet but some areas are open. They come up onto the sofa for cuddles too. How long do the lice live without a warm body? I am desperate to let them play and cuddle my boys! But dont want to reinfect them Anyone have experience?
 
Is your vet sure that it is lice and not mites?

Lice are small white or yelow crawlies in your piggies' fur whereas mange mites you cannot see by naked eye, but they are much worse. Mange mites cause typically hair loss and sores from itchy skin on the back. They need to be treated with an ivermectin product, like xeno450 (for guinea pigs over 800g).
http://www.guinealynx.info/lice.html
http://www.guinealynx.info/mites.html
 
Yeah they were def lice, i could see them crawling on his cage mate Spike :)>>> He may have had mites too, she reckons we got a bad batch of hay. How vile eh? Poor little sausages :( The treatment we got was for lice and mites. She seemed to know her stuff, i was impressed with her.
 
Good to hear!

If you have bathed your piggies and they are on ivermectin, they should be OK in he run and their cage. If necessary, give another deep clean at the end ofthe treatment. I am sure that you have thrown the hay away! It seems to be the time of year for all kinds of nasties to come with hay... mallethead
 
This may sound daft but can i bath them after the treatment? It was stuff we put in their backs. Now the lice are dead i want to wash them out the fur! But will that stop the effect of the lice lotion?
 
I wouldnt bath them just yet, as with most topical insecticides I personally would leave the stuff for 2 days minimum before washing the pigs.

Mine had lice (off a bad batch of hay) in the summer, two treatments of ivormec (as I call it, old farming habit) and all gone. I kept them on just newspaper for a week and removed all that hay, started a fresh batch and kept an eye on them for reinfestation. It does take a little while for all lice to die and wont happen right after treatment.

You can get a louse powder if you are worried about the carpet harbouring some of them but I would suggest you treat it leave for 24 hours, hoover and repeat a couple of times, then again in a month, then 6 months to get rid of any lurkers. But I wouldnt treat if the pigs are going to come into contact with the powder so you need to be able to move them somewhere while treating the carpet - mainly for the dust coming off the powder. Lino or tarpaulin would make a great barrier between carpet and pig homes.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top